TITLE 28
Labor and Labor Relations

CHAPTER 28-5.1
Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action

SECTION 28-5.1-3

§ 28-5.1-3 Affirmative action. 
(a) The state equal opportunity office shall assign an equal opportunity
officer as a liaison to agencies of state government.

(b) Each state department or agency, excluding the
legislative branch of state government, shall annually prepare an affirmative
action plan. These plans shall be prepared in accordance with the criteria and
deadlines set forth by the state equal opportunity office. These deadlines
shall provide, without limitation, that affirmative action plans for each
fiscal year be submitted to the state equal opportunity office and the house
fiscal advisor no later than March 31. These plans shall be submitted to and
shall be subject to review and approval by the state equal opportunity office.

(c) Any affirmative action plan required under this section
deemed unsatisfactory by the state equal opportunity office shall be withdrawn
and amended according to equal opportunity office criteria, in order to attain
positive measures for compliance. The state equal opportunity office shall make
every effort by informal conference, conciliation and persuasion to achieve
compliance with affirmative action requirements.

(d) The state equal opportunity office shall effect and
promote the efficient transaction of its business and the timely handling of
complaints and other matters before it, and shall make recommendations to
appropriate state officials for affirmative action steps towards the
achievement of equal opportunity.

(e) The state equal opportunity administrator shall serve as
the chief executive officer of the state equal opportunity office, and shall be
responsible for monitoring and enforcing all equal opportunity laws, programs,
and policies within state government.

(f) No later than July 1 each state department or agency,
excluding the legislative branch of state government, shall submit to the state
equal opportunity office and the house fiscal advisor sufficient data to enable
the state equal opportunity office and the house fiscal advisor to determine
whether the agency achieved the hiring goals contained in its affirmative
action plan for the previous year. If the hiring goals contained in the
previous year's plan were not met, the agency shall also submit with the data a
detailed explanation as to why the goals were not achieved.

(g) Standards for review of affirmative action plans shall be
established by the state equal opportunity office, except where superseded by
federal law.

(h) For purposes of this section, "agency" includes, without
limitation, all departments, public and quasi-public agencies, authorities,
boards, and commissions of the state, excluding the legislative branch of state
government.

(i) The state equal opportunity office shall continually
review all policies, procedures, and practices for tendencies to discriminate
and for institutional or systemic barriers for equal opportunity, and it shall
make recommendations with reference to any tendencies or barriers in its annual
reports to the governor and the general assembly.

(j) Relevant provisions of this section also apply to
expanding the pool of applicants for all positions where no list exists. The
equal opportunity administrator is authorized to develop and implement
recruitment plans to assure that adequate consideration is given to qualified
minority applicants in those job categories where a manifest imbalance exists,
excluding those job categories in the legislative branch of state government.